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2
By the time I found myself standing outside my new student house, my mood had improved. Close to the LSU campus, it was a large, white-painted Victorian terrace with bay windows. From the information I’d received from the housing coordinator, the row of houses on this street was collectively known as “the Mansions,” identical Victorian three-storey terraced buildings that housed students from the university.
Pressing my finger to the tarnished doorbell next to the black-painted door, below a brass number three, I shifted on my feet, sudden nerves overtaking me. I’d spoken to Gary, one of the LSU housing coordinators, a number of times, and I’d sent all my stuff ahead of me other than the bag I was currently holding. He’d assured me that my new housemates would welcome me, but in all honesty, his words didn’t mean anything. I was about to move into a house with complete strangers, and it was my first time being away from my mum, dad, and my thirteen-year-old twin sisters, Layla and Ami.
The heavy wooden door swung open, interrupting my thoughts. A tall blond guy stood in the doorway, his brows rising as I stared at him in silence.
I cleared my throat.Stop being so fucking nervous. “Sorry. Hi? I mean, Hi. I’m Noah. Noah Stephens. I’m moving in?”
His face relaxed into a genuine smile, and he held out a hand in greeting. “Hey, man. We’ve been expecting you. It’s good to meet you. I’m Preston.”
“You’re not English,” I said, stating the obvious and immediately wishing my brain-to-mouth filter was working.
He laughed, glancing back at me over his shoulder as I followed him into the wide hallway, complete with black-and-white chequered tiles. “Nope. American. Come on in.”
I followed him into the room to our left, which was a large lounge, complete with three sagging grey sofas, exposed wooden floors, and a giant TV with a gaming console. A pine dining table with six chairs stood at the far end of the room in front of a door that looked like it led out into a courtyard garden, and a battered coffee table with an ashtray and a couple of empty glasses was the only other piece of furniture I could see.
“Guys. This is Noah. He’s moving in today.”
Three sets of eyes turned to stare at me. My cheeks warmed, but I kept my composure. Preston came to stand by my side, and I appreciated his silent support.
“Uh, hi.”
Preston took over again, seeming to sense my nerves. “Okay. This is Ander. He lives next door at number 1, but he’s here all the time.” He pointed to a broad-shouldered, good-looking guy with his feet kicked up on the coffee table. He smiled at me, and I returned the gesture.
“And over here…this is my boyfriend, Kian, who doesn’t live here either.” At the mention of his name, Kian raised his head. He had intense light green eyes, dark hair, and a kind of bad-boy aura that not many guys could pull off successfully, in my opinion. His lip piercing glinted as his mouth curved into a small smile.
Wait. “Your boyfriend?” What were the chances of me ending up in a place with gay housemates? Suddenly, I was a lot more relaxed.
Pausing to glance back at me, Preston smiled cautiously. “Yeah…”
“That’s great. I mean, I’m gay. So it’s good to have, you know. Support.” I could feel my cheeks flush, but I held his gaze.
His smile widened, his blue eyes sparkling. “I knew I liked you.” Leaning closer to me, he lowered his voice conspiratorially. “There’s a really good gay club I discovered last semester, if you’re interested in that kind of thing. I’m gonna try and drag Kian there one of these days, and I might need some help convincing him.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kian watching us with an amused look on his face as I nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good to me. Count me in.”
“Cool.” He cleared his throat and threw out his arm in the direction of the only guy in the room that I hadn’t been introduced to yet. “Last but not least, meet one of your actual housemates, Travis.”
My gaze swept over Travis’ dark hair and grinning face. He gave me a casual nod, lifting his hand in greeting. I returned his nod with a smile.
Preston stepped back towards the doorway. “So that’s everyone here right now. I guess you’ll meet our other housemates, Liam and Damon, later. Damon’s in his first year, same as you. As for Liam and Travis here, they’re both in their second year, same as me—”
“And Trav’s the dad of your house,” Ander interjected with a grin. Travis leaned across the sofas to punch him in the arm.
“Fuck off. I told you not to call me that.”
Ander grinned at him unrepentantly. “You love it, mate.”
Preston shook his head at their antics. “Trav’s the oldest, in case you couldn’t tell.”
He continued talking as we headed out of the lounge, and he showed me into a large kitchen, complete with another pine table, this one with bench seats, and another door leading to the small yard. Across the hallway from the lounge, there was a room containing a load of media equipment—cameras, lights, a backdrop on a stand, and what looked like a sound deck. After I’d briefly peered into the room, Preston swung the door closed. “Travis is doing a media degree, and his girlfriend, Kira, is doing a photography degree. All their very expensive equipment is in there, and it’s off limits to the rest of us. On pain of death.”
“Noted.” We left the room behind, and I followed him up the stairs, where he showed me the three bedrooms belonging to himself, Damon, and Travis. Travis’ bedroom was at the far end, away from the others—apparently soundproofed so he could work on his media projects and not be disturbed. Up the final flight of stairs, we reached the top floor and the attic bedrooms. One was Liam’s, and finally, at the end of the hallway, there was mine. I’d been told it was the smallest room in the house, so I was prepared for a tiny box room.
It was a nice surprise to find out that the room wasn’t as small as I’d been led to believe. Yeah, it was smallish, but it was actually bigger than my bedroom back home. At home, I had the smallest room in the house so my sisters could share the bigger bedroom. Here I had more space to spread out. There was a double bed, a small tan two-seater sofa, a desk with a small bookcase next to it, and a wardrobe with drawers at the bottom. I had my own bathroom too, as did all the bedrooms in this house.
A tiny window gave me a view mostly consisting of roofs and a sliver of sky, and the bedroom ceiling sloped on one side, but all in all, I was happy.
